


The Hopeless Ward

by KingOMalley



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Child Abuse, Eventual Happiness, F/M, I promise I don't hate her, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mental Ward? I guess, Mentioned suicide attempt, Mentions of Rape, Non-Explicit Rape, Past Rape, Sally being a bad mom, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, gay relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:03:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingOMalley/pseuds/KingOMalley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So here I was, five years on the ward, and they still hadn't been able to get me to open up to the people trying to 'help' me. Not that I needed their 'help' in the first place. I drew myself out of my morbid thoughts when the doors of the ward opened. I glanced up with an emotionless gaze to see a pale, black haired boy walk through the metal doors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**This is a new idea, so I hope it's good. I just want to that cutiepututie and SakuHanaMusic for helping me with this and giving me advice. Now, on with the story!**

**Warnings: implied rape (later on), cutting, suicidal themes, MxM, slow updates**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Percy's POV**

Apparently there would be someone new joining the ward today. I wondered what they would be like, what they would look like, what their story was. I know, I may seem nosy, but it had been a few months since anyone had joined our particular ward. You see, our ward was for those suicidal cases that the doctors in the other ward gave up on, the ones that seemed hopeless.

I was one of those people that they gave up on (obviously), but only because I wouldn't tell them anything about why I started cutting myself or why I attempted to kill myself. Twice. Those thoughts, those memories that haunted me every day, were mine and mine alone.

Well, they used to be. But I found friends on the ward that I could trust with those thoughts without worrying about them telling Apollo, the doctor on our ward who refused let go of the fact that we probably couldn't be helped. We'd come to an agreement that I wouldn't tell any of their secrets if they didn't tell mine.

So here I was, five years on the ward, and still, they hadn't been able to get me to open up to the people trying to 'help' me. Not that I needed their 'help' in the first place. All they would do for me was send me home with some drugs that would change me and tell me to try my hardest out in the real world. After that, I would be forced into going to support groups and therapists. It would be absolute hell.

I drew myself out of my morbid thoughts when the doors of the ward, which were to my right, opened. I glanced up with an emotionless gaze to see a pale, black haired boy walk through the metal white doors with two male nurses flanking him.

The teen looked to be about fifteen, maybe sixteen, and a couple of inches shorter than me. His black hair was slightly long and unruly (almost as much so as my own), and his clothes were all black.

His chocolate brown eyes darted around the room, taking in all the details, and I noticed him twisting a skull ring around on his right ring finger. Probably a nervous tick. I'd been observing people for long enough to know that.

To tell the truth, he was very handsome. I felt a small prick in the back of my mind, as though I should recognize the teen, but I couldn't place who it was. The head nurse, Will, led the teen around, showing him the whole of the ward.

It only took about ten to fifteen minutes, accounting the fact that the ward was pretty small.

"Poor kid. He's got a dangerous guy targeting him," Luke said from behind where I was in my recliner.

I looked up at him. "I targeted you and you turned out fine," I told him.

Luke scoffed at that. "Yeah, well, you got bored of me in within a couple of days and let it go. I get the feeling you won't let this one go so easily." It was true. I'd given up on him, but only because he was straight, and I wouldn't force anyone into a relationship if they didn't want it.

I grinned at him. "You know me so well," I said.

"I've had to live with you for three years," he responded blandly. "I'd be worried if I didn't." I let out a short laugh at that, which I noticed startled the new kid, who was leaning by the window across the room, looking out at the busy street by the hospital.

I motioned for him to come over, standing. He did so reluctantly.

"Hey, I'm Percy Jackson. It's nice to meet you," I said to him, holding my hand out.

He was once again reluctant to come near me, but shook my hand with his surprisingly warm one. "Nico di Angelo," was all he said. My eyes widened in shock. A face flashed into my mind, bright and happy and innocent, and I couldn't believe how much he'd changed. What could've happened?

I brushed my shock off and pulled my hand away, which seemed to relieve him. "So, what do you think of our humble abode?" I asked him as though it were my home, smiling.

"It's . . . a lot less depressing than I thought it would be. The one down stairs seems like a funeral compared to this," he said. I wasn't surprised. Everyone who came here for the first time said that.

"I understand. That's the impression everyone gets at first," I responded, chuckling. "But trust me, there's more to it. We're the hopeless ones, after all." Nico looked puzzled by my statement, but I didn't say anything else.

"Shall we make introductions, then?" I asked. I didn't wait for him to answer, though. I pointed to the corner of the room, where there was a ceiling to floor bookshelf. "Over there, reading the huge-ass book, is Annabeth. She may seem kind of cold at first, but you get used to it." True to my words, Annabeth looked up and glared slightly at us, before going back to her book.

I gestured to Luke, who was still behind me. "That's Luke. He's a bit of a jerk, so I'd watch out for him." And I went on, introducing everyone to Nico.

"And that's everyone," I finished.

Nico looked dazed. I didn't blame him. It was a lot to take in on the first day, but it was better to get it over with quickly instead of dragging it out.

Nico was quiet for a few moments, then asked, "How long have you been here? You seem to know your way around well."

I stiffened slightly, but quickly relaxed and smiled bitterly. "I've been on this ward for five years, and the other one for one year before that. And before that I was forced to go and see therapists practically every day. I've been in this world for a long time."

Nico looked kind of surprised by my answer. "You seem so laid back, though? So happy."

"Don't you know?" I asked him, and he shook his head. "There's a name for this ward. One that I think describes it pretty well. They call this the Hopeless Ward. It may seem happy and laidback, but that's just scratching the surface. Get underneath, and you realize just how fucked up all of us really are. It's not nearly as nice as people make it out to be."

"Then what's your story?" he asked me. "What made you so hopeless that you were placed _here_?"

The bitter smile that graced my face disappeared behind my blank mask that I'd perfected over the years. "There's a deal we make here, just between us patients. I'll keep your secrets if you keep mine. Meaning, if I tell you my story, you tell me yours. And if you're not willing to do that, then I can't say anything."

Nico was silent, thinking about that. "What happens if you tell the doctor, or a nurse?"

"No one knows. It's never happened before," I answered. Nico's eyes widened in disbelief. "We've all gained trust in each other over the years. We're like a family. And family doesn't betray each other. That's all."

"B-but," Nico stuttered, seemingly shell-shocked at our absolute trust in each other. "Don't you want each other to get better?"

I started laughing then. I laughed until I was crying. When I finally calmed myself down, I told the raven haired teen, "The fact that you can say that at all tells me that you're not completely hopeless. All of us here, there's no helping us. Because we don't _need_ help. There's nothing wrong with us. We all believe that, so we don't tell."

"I don't get you," he muttered, a look of disbelief still on his face.

"Yeah, well, don't feel bad. I get the feeling not many people get me," I responded. I opened my mouth to say more, but a call from the other side of the room made me pause.

"Seaweed Brain! Your mom is calling. She says it's important this time," Annabeth called, holding the black phone out to me.

I scowled at it. "She says that every time, and every time it's nothing but disappointment from her." I could see that Nico was put even more off-balance at my sudden change of mood. When Annabeth only glared at me stubbornly, I gave in and took the phone from her, twirling the cord casually around my finger.

"Hey, Mom," I greeted indifferently.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**That's the first chapter. Pairings are open for suggestions. Requests and such. Favorite, follow, review, PM, the usual. Until next time—**

**~O'Malley out . . .**


	2. Chapter Two

**Here’s chapter two. Off we go.**

**Disclaimer: I don’t own Percy Jackson.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Nico’s POV**

I felt as though I should know Percy. Something in the back of my mind told me that I should recognize him, and yet I couldn’t place it. I studied his jet black hair that was slightly long and very unruly. I analyzed those unforgettable sea green eyes and that tan skin and yet there was nothing in my memories that reminded me of him.

And the way he spoke, the absolute certainty he held in his words, was completely foreign to me. I didn’t see how someone with such a genuine, bright smile could be so hopeless as to be placed in such a ward. I didn't understand any of the other people, who seemed just as happy and carefree, if not a bit eccentric.

When the blonde girl, Annabeth, called for Percy from across the room, the way that his expression changed to irritated so quickly made me uneasy. What could be so bad about talking to your own parents, even if they were only disappointed in you? At least there was someone there.

“Hey, Mom,” Percy said with a flat tone.

He was silent for a moment, then said, “I don’t see how that’s important. That’s what you tell me every time you call and visit, and every time I give you the same answer. I’m not telling them or you what happened, and that’s final.”

And then he suddenly seemed angry. “I don’t need help!” he snapped. “There’s nothing wrong-“ he was cut off, and I could faintly hear speaking on the other end from where I was, but I couldn’t make it out.

“What did you want to tell me, or was that ‘it’s important this time’ just a way for you to get me on the phone so you could nag at me some more?” he said irritably, hands shaking. I was surprised at how annoyed Percy seemed to be. I didn’t think anything could faze him.

There was more silence, as his mother was quieter this time, and Percy froze in shock. He gritted his teeth with an emotion I couldn’t make out. “Congratulations,” he said sarcastically. “Last time he ended up with a history of-“

Suddenly there was yelling on the other end that stunned Percy. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

After a few moments of silence, from both sides as far as I could tell, he stuttered, “I-I see. I-I’ll just, um, hang up now. S-sorry.” And then the green eyed teen hung the phone up so quickly and with so much force, it made everyone in the room jump.

Annabeth stood next to him, a shocked expression on her face. I guessed that she heard what was said, and it probably wasn’t something that happened often, if ever. Percy rushed out of the day room in the direction of the dorms, face hidden by his wild hair.

I stared in the direction he disappeared, mildly concerned. I made my way over to Annabeth and asked her, “What was that?”

Annabeth’s grey eyes suddenly blazed with anger, though I could tell it wasn’t at me. “That was Percy’s mother being a complete idiot! And I can’t even go and talk to him because he ran to the dorms like the Seaweed Brain he is!”

I was startled by her outburst, but she hardly acknowledged me as she rushed over to Luke, who seemed even more concerned than I was. She said something to him in a low voice, too low for me to hear, and he looked ready to hit someone.

The blue-eyed teen calmed himself down and said something back to her, still too quiet for me to hear, and walked in the direction that Percy ran in.

I stood motionless, frozen in place and dumbstruck at what just happened. Annabeth just went back over to her huge book, fuming silently, and the rest of the people in the room were silent. Somebody placed a hand on my shoulder, and I turned around to find Grover looking at me with something akin to pity.

“What?” I muttered. I still wasn’t sure how to take what happened, so I pushed that away for the moment.

“Sorry about Percy,” Grover said. “His mom really rattles him sometimes.” Then the crippled teen frowned, pulling his hand from my shoulder. “Though I’ve never seen him react that strongly. I wonder what she said this time.”

“This time?” I inquired. “How often does she call?”

Grover thought about this for a minute. “She used to call every day, from what I remember, but now it’s about once or twice a week.”

I furrowed my brow. “What happened to Percy?” I asked. “I mean, he seems so bright, and yet he’s in a place called the ‘Hopeless Ward’. I don’t get it.”

“That’s not for me to tell. And plus, you haven’t made the deal. Tell him your story first. His is pretty loaded, so it’d take a while for him to tell you the whole thing.”

“What’s this deal you keep talking about?” I asked. “Percy talked about it, but it confused me.”

“Well, since you’re new here, I guess I should tell you,” Grover responded. “Awhile back, when none of us were all that close, none of us knew each other’s stories. We were all just strangers to each other.” The teen paused for a moment, thinking.

“But somehow, we ended up getting close, close enough to be family, and yet we still didn’t know each other’s stories. In short, we made a promise that what happens within our family stays within the family. And that includes what we tell each other. It wouldn’t be fair for only certain people to tell their stories, and others to keep it to themselves, so we made the deal. You tell me your story, I’ll tell you mine, and you say nothing to anyone that isn’t within the family.”

I stayed silent, thinking about that. It made sense. Trust was important within a family, and if you didn’t have that, you didn’t have a real family. I’d learned that lesson the hard way, since _that_ person ruined mine, despite the secret I’d entrusted him with. He broke the promise and ruined my family and my life. I didn’t remember who he was or what he looked like, but I knew that I still hated him with a passion for taking my sister from me.

“I guess I understand,” I said to Grover. “It makes sense.”

“So, how about it?” Grover requested. I gave him a puzzled look. “Do you want to make the deal? Tell me what happened to you, and I’ll return the favor.” I eyed the crippled teen for a couple of minutes, unsure of whether I could trust him, but then I realized that, according to the deal, he wouldn’t tell anyone that wasn’t trustworthy.

I nodded silently. Grover spoke, “Then I swear on the River Styx that I won’t tell anyone not a part of our inner circle your story.”

“What?” I asked, confused by what he said.

“You’ve got to swear,” was what he offered as an answer. I repeated what he said, though it came out as more of a question than anything.

“Let’s go somewhere to talk, now that you’ve sworn,” Grover said, smiling. I only answered with a nod, following when he gestured for me to walk with him.

Grover led me through the halls of the dorm until we reached a door with his name on the front. He opened the door for me and I walked in, inspecting the room.

It was neat for the most part. His bed was slightly messy, green blankets hanging off the bed enough to touch the floor. The walls were a light brown color and his carpeted floor was white. Against the wall to my left was a dresser, and a closet next to that. Trinkets covered the surface of the dresser, reed pipes and sheet music and other various things.

Next to his bed, which was across from me against the wall, was a night stand that stood opposite the dresser. There was a small bookshelf lining the wall next to the night stand. The room seemed well-kept, but pretty empty.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Grover told me, and I sat on his bed, albeit hesitantly.

“Now,” he began. “What got you landed in the Hopeless Ward?” I opened my mouth and began speaking.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**There’s chapter two. Sorry not sorry for the cliff hanger. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for backstories.**

**Favorite, follow, review, and PM me. Until next time . . .**

**~O’Malley out!**


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter three, here we come!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Percy's POV**

" _You ungrateful brat! I wish you had succeeded in killing yourself the first time! At least then I wouldn't have to deal with my idiot of a son!" my mother yelled through the phone. I froze in shock, and coldness spread through my body, creeping through me and freezing me to the core._

The scene kept replaying in my head, resonating through my body and causing me to feel colder and colder until I finally went numb. I lay limply on my bed, staring at the wall in front of me blankly. I was in shock. I couldn't believe that my mother would say something so horrible, so _cruel_. She'd lashed out at me before, but never said anything that stung me so bad or got this strong a reaction from me.

I heard my door open, and someone sat down on my bed behind me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Luke asked me, running a calming hand through my hair.

I stayed silent, thinking seriously about his question. Then I said, "She was right." My voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I'm just an idiot who should've died the first time."

"I don't think so," Luke said. "The fact that we've accepted you as our leader really says something, don't you think so? We would never accept an idiot." The blonde chuckled.

I smiled bitterly at that. "I thought you guys just accepted me because I'd been here the longest."

"Dude, that means nothing here. If we didn't believe you were a good leader, we never would've accepted you in the first place. You being here the longest only means that you have bigger problems than all of us combined," Luke replied. His hand was still running through my unruly hair.

I let my smile slip away into a blank expression and closed my eyes, though not falling asleep. "I'm just . . . so tired." My voice was lower than a whisper then, and I knew Luke struggled to make my words out.

He didn't say anything for a while. "I know, Perce. We all are."

I finally let the tears that had otherwise been unnoticeable fall, and cried softly into my pillow, relishing in the comforting hand carding through my raven locks. "Thank you," I whispered, my voice breaking.

There was a soft chuckle, and Luke hugged me. Don't get me wrong. It was nothing romantic, more brotherly than anything. I clutched on to the back of his shirt and let myself cry out all of the pain I felt from my mother's words, unable to hold any of it back any more.

I pulled away after deciding I'd cried long enough. I wiped my eyes and chuckled. "I'm so pathetic, crying over simple words." I gave a sad smile.

"I think you're stronger than all of us," Luke told me. I looked at him curiously. "You've been through more than any of us could imagine experiencing, and to be honest, I wouldn't let anyone _near_ me, let alone touch me. The fact that you can do that, well, it means you're strong enough to get past it."

"Get past it?" I asked incredulously. "How can you say I've gotten past it when I still have nightmares about it every night? And when I wake up, I never fall back asleep because I'm afraid that he'll be there, ready for me to let my guard down so he can take advantage of it. How can you call that 'getting past it'?"

Luke frowned thoughtfully at me. "All of us have those nightmares. Maybe not nearly as often as you do, but we still have them, and I sure as hell know that we're just the same when we _do_ have them. You're not alone in that boat, or any boat, for that matter. We're all the same here."

I looked down guiltily, not realizing the unintentional meaning behind my words. I heard a sigh, and Luke forced me to look at him. "Look, I'm not mad at you, or disappointed. Just don't assume that you're alone when you _know_ you're not, alright?"

I looked away and nodded. Luke took that as his sign to leave and got up off the bed, ruffling my hair a bit before leaving my room. I flopped back on my bed with a long sigh and stared at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above me.

I figured that was what my life was. A repeating cycle, happening over and over again, sometimes slower, sometimes faster, and sometimes it comes to a complete stop for a while before continuing again. I laughed to myself at that thought, deciding that my life _was_ indeed a ceiling fan.

Suddenly my door slammed open and I saw Nico standing in my doorway with a furious look on his face. It reminded me of the look he gave me the last time I saw him.

Feigning ignorance, I asked, "What's wrong?"

Nico bristled. "What the fuck do you mean 'what's wrong'?!" he hissed angrily at me. "You know _exactly_ what's wrong!"

I flinched at the glare he sent me. "No, I really don't! I know that you hated me the last time we met, but I never knew why!"

The pale teen clenched his jaw in anger. "You tore my family apart. My sister and I were separated, and I never saw her again! And it's all your fault! It's all your fault that my sister left me and never talked to me again!"

I stared at him in stunned silence, my hands trembling. Finally, I got the ability to speak again. "W-what?! How?"

"Social Services came and took us away and separated us into different families, assuring us that we could see each other," Nico told me, though I could see it was reluctant. "But do you know what my sister did? She said that she didn't want to see me. She said that she just wanted peace, and the only way she could have that was to never see me again."

I brought a trembling hand down my face, trying to calm myself down. "I . . . I was only trying to help. I thought that you two would be happier away from your father. I guess I was wrong." I looked down at my lap, forcing my guilty tears back. "I'm sorry."

Nico slapped me then. Hard. I felt my cheek stinging, and knew that it was already turning red. "Sorry won't bring my sister back, you fucking idiot! I wish you would just die for what you did to us!" I choked on my tears, and felt them cascade down my face like a roaring waterfall.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," I whispered, bring my knees up to my chest and crying into my knees. The darkness that I'd been fighting off for so long was starting to consume me again, and there was no way I could stop it this time. It swallowed my heart up and froze it, making it become a wasteland.

"You're pathetic," Nico spat and left the room, slamming the door behind him in his rage. I was trembling all over, and felt my jeans getting soaked with my tears.

I hugged my legs tightly, trying to push away the painful tears that continued to fall. "I'm sorry," I whimpered.

First my mother, and then Nico. Both of them wanted me dead, and they would probably be happier that way. And then I remembered that I had a way to grant their wish.

I knew what I had to do, so I got up off of my bed, wiping my tears away, and opened the top drawer of my dresser and pulled out a silver box that my mother gave me when I was a kid. I opened it and pulled the bottle full of various pills out.

I closed the drawer after placing the box back inside and went to my closet, taking out one of the water bottles I had stashed there. I poured the pills on my bed and began to pick them up, but hesitated for a moment, unsure whether I would be successful.

I pushed my hesitation aside and swallowed the pills five at a time, using all of the water in the bottle by the time all of the pills were gone. I slowly walked over to the dresser, putting the empty pill bottle into the box again and crawling into my bed, bringing the covers up to my chin in an attempt to push the coldness that continued to overtake me away.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I felt tired, and let the pill-induced sleep take me into the dark blankets of my mind.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

A while later I was woken by loud voices, scuffling feet, and bright lights. I was being rolled down a hallway on a gurney, I realized after squinting at the quickly passing office lights in the ceiling for a few moments.

"Can you hear me?" a nurse, or what I guessed was a nurse, asked me in a slow and slurred voice, and the lights above me began to warp and make strange patterns right in front of my eyes. And then the darkness came to claim me again.

The last thing I heard was Luke whispering a good-bye to me, just in case, he said.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**And that's chapter three. Follow, favorite, review, and PM me. I'll be putting up a poll for other ships in this story, so please go to my page and do that. Thanks, and until next time . . .**

**~O'Malley out!**


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Nico's POV**

I saw red when Grover told me that Percy was the one who ruined my family. I couldn't believe it. The chance that I would meet him again had been so small, and yet here I was, seeing him again.

I stormed down the hall and slammed Percy's door open, glaring harshly at him. He bolted up on the bed looking at me with confusion and uneasiness.

"What's wrong?" he asked me with obviously feigned ignorance that made me even angrier.

I sent the green eyed teen the harshest glare I could manage, and I noticed with a sense of satisfaction that he flinched visibly. "What the fuck do you mean 'what's wrong'?!" I hissed. "You know _exactly_ what's wrong!"

Percy's voice was full of alarm, as was his gaze. "No, I really don't! I know that you hated me the last time we met, but I never knew why!" he said quickly.

I clenched my jaw, never moving my intense gaze from the teen. "You tore my family apart. My sister and I were separated, and I never saw her again! And it's all your fault! It's all your fault that my sister left me and never talked to me again!" I tried to keep my voice down, barely managing not to yell.

Percy seemed stunned by my words, but I didn't care. "W-what?!" he stuttered pathetically. "How?"

I was hesitant to answer, but knew that he would never understand if I didn't tell him. I needed to make him pay for what he did, and the only way was to tell him.

"Social Services and came and took us away and separated us into different families, assuring us that we could see each other. But do you know what my sister did? She said that she didn't want to see me. She said that she just wanted peace, and the only way she could have that was to never see me again," I told Percy, anger and pain lacing my voice.

I saw him draw a shaky hand down his face in an attempt to calm himself down. The words he said then made me snap. "I . . . I was only trying to help. I thought that you two would be happier away from your father. I guess I was wrong." Percy looked down at his lap guiltily. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of a frozen Percy, having slapped him, practically shouting, "Sorry won't bring my sister back, you fucking idiot! I wish you would just die for what you did us!" Tears started flowing down Percy's face, and a broken, almost shattered, look entered his eyes and made him look even sorrier than before.

He pulled his legs to himself and buried his face in his knees, sobbing quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he whispered pitifully. The way he was trembling and crying didn't sway me or faze me in the least. On the contrary, I felt rather pleased with myself. The way I brought down the person who destroyed my family made me satisfied.

"You're pathetic," I spat and left the room, slamming the door behind myself.

I slowed down, then stopped in the middle of the hallway, suddenly feeling bad for what I'd just said. Percy was a fucking suicidal ward patient, and I'd just told him that he should die. I reassured myself with the fact that there was no way he could kill himself here. There was nothing to do it with.

And plus, he probably wasn't really suicidal at all. He said that he hadn't told any doctors what happened to him, so he probably made up the suicide lie to get himself somewhere he could sit back and relax without worrying about anything.

I calmed down then, the guilt seeping away with those thoughts. I walked through the hall, making my way back to the dayroom where everyone else was.

The rest of the day went by quickly, although I noticed Grover giving me worried glances when he thought I wasn't looking. When Percy didn't make any appearances for the rest of the day, people around me got worried, and finally, after dinner, Grover approached me nervously.

"Hey, uh, Nico, what exactly did you say to Percy?" he asked me quietly, as if afraid that someone was eavesdrop on our conversation (which they probably would).

"I just explained to him what happened back then. He kept apologizing for it and I got mad, so I slapped him. But that's it," I said, unable to tell the rest of the story. Guilt started gnawing at me again, but I comforted myself with the same thoughts as before.

Grover frowned. "Why would you do something like that? I know that you're mad at him, but you don't know his past and what something as simple as a slap could do to him."

"What?!" Luke asked incredulously from behind me, and I spun around. He was looking at me with similar rage as I looked at Percy with earlier that day. "What else did you say to him? I know that's not all that happened, so tell me the truth!" Luke exclaimed, though not loud enough for the nurse at the Nurses' Station to hear.

I looked away from him. "I didn't say anything-"

Luke, forced me to look at him by grabbing my chin roughly. "I can tell when someone is lying, and I know that you are, so spit it out," he hissed.

I felt the words tumbling from my mouth without my consent. With every word, Luke got an angrier and more desperate look on his face.

" _You're_ the idiot, you know that?" he snapped, then ran toward the dorm wing. Frowning, I followed him. When I caught up to him, he was kneeling next to Percy's bed, shaking the teen and trying to get him to wake up, but it wasn't working.

The blonde spotted the empty water bottle next to the bed and paled even more than he already had. "What's wrong? He's probably just a deep sleeper," I grumbled.

Instead of answering me, Luke ran out of the room faster than I thought he could move. Only moments later Doctor Apollo and a few nurses came in and started checking on Percy, making quick and skilled movements.

I wasn't sure what happened after that, as I was forced out of the room by Will, but I did know that a few minutes later Percy was being rolled out of the ward on a gurney with an IV hooked into his arm. As he passed by my shocked form, I caught sight of scars covering his arm, and paled almost as much as the others in the room.

' _What have I done?'_ I thought to myself.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Percy's POV**

_The cool blade touched my skin and pressed down, not quite cutting the flesh, but causing a red line to appear where I dragged it along the flawless, white skin._

_I took at deep, calming breath, then pushed the knife down harder, and felt a sharp pain. And suddenly I could feel again. I felt something, anything, and it made me feel alive. I dragged it across my forearm, and then did it again, in another spot, and again, then again._

_When I was done, the word 'empty' was engraved in my arm._

_That was the first time I ever cut, and the first time I seriously thought about killing myself. That was when I realized just how pointless life was._

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

I woke with a start, but found that I couldn't breathe in. I realized that there was a tube down my throat, regulating my breathing and bodily functions. I heard the heart monitor pick up a bit, and glanced around the room in a panic.

A nurse rushed into the room, one I knew by the name of Rose, and she looked at me with a mixture of shock and relief.

"Percy, you're awake," she sighed. She glanced at my heart monitor and panicked eyes and immediately knew what to do.

I felt my heart pounding loudly in my ears, and _knew_ that the blonde nurse could hear it as well. She ran a hand through my hair gently and told me to calm down, that nothing was wrong and that everything was okay (even though I knew it wasn't).

I finally managed to calm down, and Rose moved to take the tube out of my mouth. I let her. When I could finally breathe again, I coughed a bit, my through sore.

"How long has it been?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

She smiled kindly at me. "You've been out for about two weeks. We weren't sure you would make it, even after we flushed the drugs out of your system. I'm so relieved that you're okay."

I couldn't say the same. I wished it had ended, that I had died while I was asleep, but I wasn't so lucky. Suddenly, my body was heavy, and I felt my eyelids drooping.

"Just sleep for now, Percy. You need your rest," Rose told me, and I allowed myself to be dragged back into the darkness for a third time, the only difference this time being that I knew I would wake up again.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**And that's chapter four. Favorite, follow, review, and PM me. Until next time . . .**

**~O'Malley out!**


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: I don’t own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Percy’s POV**

The next week of me being confined to a hospital bed was hell, to say the least. They had me constantly sedated so that I wouldn’t try anything else (not like there was anything to hurt myself with), and they also had restraints on my wrists so that I wouldn’t get out of the bed or leave my room. Nobody came to see me either, not that the people on the ward were allowed to.

And I doubted my mom cared enough about me to come and make sure her ungrateful son was okay. She made it clear she didn’t in that last phone call. As I sat there, waiting for them to finally release me back to the ward as they’d promised, my father, Poseidon, walked in.

I looked at him in shock. It’d been at least two years since the last time he visited me. “Dad?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

He looked a bit surprised at my question. “What? I can’t come see my son after he tries to kill himself again?” There was a hint of disbelief, and even hurt, in his voice.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. “O-oh,” was all I could come up with.

His sea green eyes softened some when he saw my uneasiness. He ruffled my hair fondly, and I gave him a small smile.

The short moment of father-son bonding passed, and Poseidon suddenly looked serious. “Do you know how much you worried your mother?”

I scoffed. “Are we thinking of the same mother? Because the one I talked to that day told me she would have preferred I succeeded in my first attempt instead of dealing with me, the ungrateful brat.”

My father frowned at my words. “Sally didn’t tell me that. In fact, she didn’t even mention talking to you, so how could you accuse her of that?”

I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Accuse her? I _know_ she did it. I heard it with my own ears. And if you don’t believe me, ask Annabeth.”

Poseidon went silent, and I made no move to break the newfound peace. “I’m going to talk to her. And your mother, as well.”

He made his way to the doorway with long strides. As he walked out, I told him, “You should visit more often, too. It might make things easier on both of us.”

He looked back and smiled at me. “Of course.” And then he was gone.

I sighed. I really wasn’t expecting my dad, of all people, to show up. We hadn’t exactly had a falling out, but we weren’t on the best terms the last time he visited. There was this tense atmosphere between us, and then he suddenly stopped coming to see me like he usually did.

It made me upset at first, but I got used to it and eventually let it go. I didn’t hold it against my father, anyway. I really couldn’t blame him for not coming, having to deal with a stubborn-ass kid.

Someone else walked into my room. Doctor Apollo and a couple of nurses. The blonde man beamed at me. “Well, you’re looking a lot better now. You’ve been authorized to go back to the ward, so we’ll be escorting you.”

I nodded, not saying anything. Will undid the restraints on my wrists and took my IV drip out, then moved back so I could stand. I grimaced at the airy feel of the hospital gown. Doctor Apollo noticed my discomfort and laughed.

“When you get back, you can change, so don’t worry about it too much,” he told me.

I smiled back, almost unnoticeably, but nothing got past the man. He looked a bit happier now. Despite him wanting to find out what happened to me, he was a genuinely nice person, and I couldn’t deny that he was a good guy.

As I was escorted back to the ward, Apollo tried to make small talk, but I answered as shortly as possible, and eventually the conversation died out.

“Oh, and by the way,” the doctor suddenly said, breaking the silence, “there’s a visitor for you, saying that he’s a family friend. I’ll have Will take you to him after you change.”

“Did he say a name?” I asked, finally saying something that was more than a word.

Apollo flipped through the white clipboard in his hand. “Hmm, let’s see. His name is . . . Gabriel Ugliano. He used to be your step-father, yes?”

I froze mid-step, but quickly caught myself and kept walking. “C-can I skip out on this one?” I asked, stuttering a bit. It suddenly became hard to breathe, and I had to force myself to look normal, though I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling.

Apollo gave a small frown at my sudden tenseness, but quickly picked his smile back up. “If you’re sure you don’t want to see him, then I’m fine with it.”

“I’m positive,” I told him in a barely steady voice. The rest of the short walk to the ward was silent, and when I was finally through the cold, metal doors of my home, I rushed through the day room without looking up from the floor or meeting anyone’s gazes. I could’ve sworn I heard a dark chuckle as I passed someone.

I slammed my dorm room behind me, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I let my carefully controlled mask slip off and break then. My heartbeat picked up and my chest became tight. ‘ _Why did he find me?!’_ I thought fearfully.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Nico’s POV**

I felt incredibly guilty for those whole three weeks that Percy was gone. When I heard that he was awake, a wave of relief washed over me. Luke explained to me just how bad Percy had it, somehow not giving away a single detail of what happened to him, and I knew that I’d done something seriously horrible.

And when I heard that he was coming back to the ward that day, I was suddenly nervous and immensely shameful of my actions. Sure, I was still mad at him for what he did to me in the past, but I knew that he was sincerely sorry about it.

That sense of satisfaction I had at first completely disappeared when I saw all of the cuts marring his arm, and I wondered just how many were on the other one. What exactly happened to him to make him hurt himself so horribly and want to die while I was wishing for revenge?

An hour before Percy was due to arrive back, a man showed up asking to visit him. A lot of people in the room tensed when they heard the man’s name, Gabriel Ugliano, and I immediately knew it was someone from Percy’s past. The way all of them glared at the man as though they wanted to kill him made it obvious.

I could smell the stench of the sweat coming off of his greasy skin all the way across the room. The man’s beady eyes that peaked out from his fat face roamed the room, soaking everything in, taking in every detail. His eyes raked over every person, every book, and every floor tile.

And so, as he sat there waiting for Percy for an hour, the entire room was tense. I jolted out of my thoughts when the white doors opened and Percy rushed through, looking at the ground and heading towards the dorm rooms.

The man chuckled as Percy passed by him. I couldn’t see Percy’s face, but I knew cracks were forming in his mask by the way his body stiffened. Only seconds later his door slammed hard behind him, echoing through the entire day room.

All of us sat in a worried silence. I was both worried and confused. What had this man done to Percy? What did he break inside of the teen that made him so frightened and tense?

I needed answers. And I needed them soon, otherwise I would explode. As Doctor Apollo told the man Percy didn’t want to see him, I strode over to Luke and Annabeth, who were whispering furiously to each other.

“I need you to tell me about Percy’s past. I’ll tell you everything you want to know about me, and you don’t even have to tell me your stories, just . . . I need to know what happened to him,” I begged, looking at both of them desperately.

They both searched my face for something I couldn’t identify, and then glanced at each other. Luke sighed.

 “Fine. We’ll tell you, but we’re going to tell you our own stories first,” Annabeth said.

“And also,” Luke added, “if you don’t hold to that promise you just made, then we won’t tell you anything.” I nodded in agreement, looking at both of them with determination.

“Then let’s find somewhere to talk,” Annabeth sighed, seeming tired.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**And that’s chapter five. I hope you enjoyed. Favorite, follow, review, and PM me. Until next time . . .**

**~O’Malley out!**


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: I don’t own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**Nico’s POV**

We sat in the library corner, where there were no people. I looked at Annabeth and Luke, not sure where we were starting. Annabeth noticed this and looked at me with serious eyes. “First, we should tell you something.”

I cocked my head to the side, confused and curious. Luke spoke.

“Percy’s past, it’s not pretty. We would really prefer to let him be the one to tell you, not only to protect ourselves from his wrath but also because it’s horrible. Understand that it’s not something we’re telling you lightly,” he said, looking a bit down at his own words.

I nodded. “Then,” Annabeth breathed. “I guess we should tell you our own stories first, you tell us yours, and then you get to hear Percy’s.” I nodded again, for fear that my voice would tremble if I spoke.

“I’ll tell you mine first,” Luke said with heavy eyes. “My home . . . well, it wasn’t a very happy place. My father, Hermes, was never there, probably cheating on my mom when he wasn’t at work. And my mom, well, she wasn’t really . . . _stable,_ I guess. The way Dad was always cheating on her and the way my brother and I were, it got to her, and she went a bit crazy.”

“Your brother?” I asked.

Luke looked as though he just realized something. “Ah, right, I should explain that,” he said. “I have— _had_ a twin brother, named Kronos. We were really close, and we caused a lot of trouble for Mom and Dad, pranks, getting in trouble with school and the cops, nothing too shocking. But the way Dad treated us got to my brother even more than it got to me.”

Luke paused here, taking a deep breath. Annabeth squeezed his hand in a silent attempt to comfort him. “We started drifting apart some when we were around thirteen or fourteen. Kronos got into bad business with some bad people. He used drugs, sold drugs, and even helped a local gang with their business. I guess it was his way to get back at Dad, but he got involved with an even worse gang through them, called Backbiter.”

My eyes widened. I’d heard of that gang. They caused a huge problem with shipping industries a few years back. “My brother got in really deep, trying to get revenge on Dad for breaking Mom like that, he said. It was against the really big postal and shipping business that my dad managed. He went on the mission to sabotage them, plant drugs all over, but he didn’t make it out. When the police arrived, he killed himself out of shame with his own gun.”

I was shocked at that. His twin brother was one of the people that went and failed in sabotaging that huge business?! I just . . . found it hard to believe, but knew it was true by how much Luke seemed to be struggling with telling the story.

“That was when we were fifteen,” he said softly. “I realized how horrible my brother and I had been to both of our parents, realized that my dad did nothing wrong, and decided to end it and make life easier on them, but I was found and brought here. I’ve been on this ward for two years now, and on the other one for two years before that.”

“Wow, you’ve been through . . . a lot,” I muttered, realizing my story didn’t seem as bad when compared to his.

“Not compared to some,” he responded.

I glanced at Annabeth, who was fidgeting in her seat and staring at the wooden table we were seated at. “I-I guess it’s my turn,” she sighed nervously. “Well, here goes.” She muttered the last part.

“My home life was great the first few years,” she began. “I grew up with my doting father and my amazing mother, Athena. We were happy. I always read, my mom and dad homeschooled me, arguing that they could do better than any local school, being college professors. So, as expected, by the time I was six I was smarter than average. And then my mom, sh-she was in an accident.” Here the blonde’s voice broke.

“I was only a little kid, of course, but I knew that my mom was dead, and I grieved her. And I also knew that my dad was in pain because of losing her. Yet he went on with life, teaching and living. When I was seven, we moved to San Francisco and he remarried to this nice lady. Well, she was nice until she saw me and realized my father loved my mom more than her.” I almost flinched at the harsh glare Annabeth threw at the table.

“And so she treated me like I was the scum of the world. She verbally abused me and pushed me to the brink of insanity. When my father was around, she would be the strict yet ‘kind’ mother, and when he wasn’t, she was this monster in a woman’s skin. I hated her, and the looks she gave me. But what really made me snap happened a couple of years after their second son was born,” Annabeth stopped talking, and I could see she was struggling with getting the words out.

“I-I’ve always had this really huge fear of spiders, arachnophobia, but she just brushed it off as if it were nothing. One night, she moved my room to the boys’ old one and gave them mine, which was bigger. Their room was prone to spiders. Every night for a week they would crawl in my bed, and when I went to my father, that woman told me that I should get over my _petty fear._ And my father sided with her.

“I realized then that he would listen to that bitch every time, and never once hear my pleas. And I decided that I’d had enough. If my father wanted a perfect life with her, I would give him that, and tried to OD on drugs. Obviously it didn’t work,” she finished. “I’ve been here almost as long as Percy has.”

I stayed silent. “And now it’s your turn,” Luke said.

As I opened my mouth to begin speaking, the bell that signaled dinner went off, and people began filing into the cafeteria.

“After dinner?” I asked weakly, hesitant to share so much about myself.

Annabeth and Luke agreed, albeit reluctantly. My gaze drifted to the man who had come to see Percy. He slipped out of the white doors with a satisfied smirk.

“Why was he still here?” I asked, gesturing to the chair the man was sitting in. “Doctor Apollo told him that Percy didn’t want to talk.”

Annabeth glared at the now sweat stained seat. “He was probably waiting for Percy to come back out. And got what he wanted when Percy stayed away.”

I frowned. “What he wanted . . . ?”

Luke had a somber look on his face. “He wanted to see Percy scared.”

“We should go to dinner,” Annabeth said, standing up abruptly. The way she suddenly clammed up confused me, but I ignored it and stood up as well, walking to dinner with the two.

**-PJO—PJO—PJO-**

**You’ll have to wait a little bit longer for Nico’s back story. Sorry, not sorry. Favorite, follow, review, and PM me. Until next time . . .**

**~O’Malley out!**


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